People everywhere want to be healthy for many reasons, the most obvious is to live longer and tol ook and feel better. With so many different ways to achieve our goals physically, how do we know which regimens are right for us?Martial Arts offers both physical andmental disciplines to assist you with your goals. Martial arts have evolved over the years and has many health benefits. There are many styles of martial arts and each has its own unique strengths and weaknesses, and they all have several benefits in common.

Physical benefits of Martial Arts:
Cardiovascular Health: Martial arts training requires constant movement, which is great for your heart and your cardiovascular system.

Weight Loss: Martial arts training can help you shed any extra pounds you’re carrying. The best part about it; you’re more likely to stick with a weight loss program if you actually enjoy the workouts.

Increased Strength: Lots of Martial arts classes use calisthenics and other body-weight exercises as part of a warm-up or cool-down, which can increase your strength.

Improved Reflexes: To compete in martial arts you will need to perform various movements, defenses and attacks quickly; what is not obvious is that these speedy reflexes can also translate into other parts of your life. Faster reflexes can help with driving, sports, and many other areas where you need to react quickly to your environment.

Mental Benefits
Martial arts are not just about getting stronger or losing weight; martial arts training can also help improve your mind. Here are some of the mental benefits associated with training in martial arts.

Focus: Martial arts teach you to focus on your body and your actions, while tuning out distractions. This can translate directly into the rest of your life and allow you to stay more focused on the things you need to get done.

Discipline: Martial arts teach you to control your emotions and impulses, and require great discipline and years of training to become proficient.

Confidence: Gaining new skills, being part of a team, and improving your focus and self- defense can all lead to increased confidence.

Stress Relief: Letting out your aggression on a punching bag or opponent can help relieve some stress, but that is not the only way that martial arts help keep stress at bay. Martial arts teach you to slow down and take things one step at a time; they teach you to accomplish one task completely and then move onto the next instead of taking everything on at once.

Spring is here and it is almost time to start considering where to take your children during the summer. Some families vacation the whole summer through while others are not so fortunate and have to work all summer long! These families may be considering daycare, sports and/or continuing education at a summer school program. In recent studies, Summer Camp is one of the better choices for children in between the school year. 

Michael Ungar Ph.D. spoke to 300 camp directors about how to make children more resilient to life stress. Summer camps, he discovered, are perfect places to help children optimize their psychosocial development.

After all, summer camps are places where children get the experiences they need to bolster their range of coping strategies. There are the simple challenges of learning how to build a fire, going on a hike, or conquering a high ropes course. There are the much more complex challenges of getting along with a new group of peers, learning how to ask for help from others, or taking manageable amount of risks without a parent following after you.

There are all types of camps out there of course and this study offered the benefits of a great camp; one that doesn’t treat children like customers but rather treats them as students whose caregivers, the counselors, know what the kids need to grow.

Michael Ungar Ph.D. looked at these experiences from the vantage point of his research on resilience, he knew that camps help our children develop great coping strategies when they provide seven things all children need:

1. New relationships, not just with peers, but with trusted adults other than their parents. Just think about how useful a skill like that is: being able to negotiate on your own with an adult for what you need.
2. A powerful identity that makes the child feel confident in front of others. Your child may not be the best on the ropes course, the fastest swimmer, or the next teen idol when he sings, but chances are that a good camp counselor is going to help your child find something to be proud of that he can do well.
3. Camps help children feel in control of their lives, and those experiences of self-efficacy can travel home as easily as a special art project or the pine cone they carry in their backpack. Children who experience themselves as competent will be better problem-solvers in new situations long after their laundry is cleaned and the smell of the campfire forgotten.
4. Camps make sure that all children are treated fairly. The wonderful thing about camps is that every child starts without the baggage they carry from school. They may be a geek or the child with dyslexia. At camp they will both find opportunities to just be kids who are valued for who they are. No camps tolerate bullying (and if they do, you should withdraw your child immediately).
5. At camp kids get what they need to develop physically. Ideally, fresh air, exercise, a balance between routine and unstructured time, and all the good food their bodies need. Not that s’mores (marshmallows, chocolate and graham cracker treats) don’t have a place at the campfire, but a good camp is also about helping children find healthy lifestyles.
6. Perhaps best of all, camps offer kids a chance to feel like they belong. All those goofy chants and team songs, the sense of common purpose and attachment to the identity that camps promote go a long way to offering children a sense of being rooted.
7. And finally, camps can offer children a better sense of their culture. It might be skit night, or a special camp program that reflects the values of the community that sponsors the camp, or maybe it’s just a chance for children to understand themselves a bit more as they learn about others. Camps give kids both cultural roots and the chance to understand others who have cultures very different than their own.

So research definitely suggests that these 7 steps and due diligence on the parent’s part in research will ensure a wholesome environment where kids can thrive during the summer months!

RMA offers a great program for the youth and will be working with some of the best summer camps locally to help facilitate a bright future for kids today! Stay Tuned….

First, check out your school’s website! You’ll find information on school supplies and “Back to School Night.” Go to sarasotacountyschools.net click on your type of school (elementary, middle, high school), then click on your school’s name from the drop down list. Your school’s website will give you valuable information to get prepared for the 2016-2017 school year!

Second, keep training and get a head start above your peers! Taekwondo will enhance mental discipline, increase knowledge, and self-control. School requires concentration for homework, bell work, and projects.  aekwondo teaches concentration on the objective and to block out irrelevant or disruptive perceptions. So, keep training the RMA way and be ahead above the rest this school year!

Master Buck

July 4th marked our country’s freedoms and independence and the occasion to celebrate the heroes that dedicated themselves to defending our nation. I thought it fitting that we look at the clear connection that exists between patriotism and the Martial Arts.

Patriotism is often thought of as devotion, loyalty, service, and ultimately defense for one’s country. Patriots are very proud and display strong beliefs just as students and teachers of the Martial Arts. Patriotism is deeply rooted in our country’s history and Martial Arts has been practiced for many centuries. The rich virtues of patriotism can directly relate and apply to our daily lives through the study of Martial Arts. The best parallel is in the defense of oneself and one’s belief system. This is unconditional and of the utmost importance because we cannot defend others, our country, or our principles if we are unable to defend ourselves. Those who study Martial Arts display the same ideology as they are proud to be a part of a distinct “community” devoted to self-respect, self-defense, and honor.

At Revolutionary Martial Arts, we train self-defense techniques to ensure confidence and strength in everyday situations including those which may be potentially life threatening. Just as a patriotic warrior who learns to develop and apply self-control, concentration, and awareness, my students learn these qualities through respect for themselves and others along with a structured self-defense training program.
Learn to be your own patriot!

Be Safe and Travel in Peace,

Buck Buckmaster is the owner of Revolutionary Martial Arts in Venice, Florida. I met Buck at our offices over a year ago because he wanted to develop a new website for his company. I have gotten to know Buck rather well. He is one of the most passionate men that I know who really believes in what he does to help people of all different ages learn the Martial Arts.

I was very intrigued about his program called “Cane Fu” that teaches seniors not to become victims. Buck’s mom was attacked in Venice where she was working at a convenience store. He now teaches men and woman alike how to defend themselves and use their cane when necessary! He was featured on ABC-7 WWSB News!

Revolutionary Martial Arts offers several different courses included Aerobic Kick Boxing, “Bully Proofing,” Concealed Carry, Family Classes, Private Classes, Little Warriors, Military Training, Senior Self Defense and more.

Self-defense is the ability of a person to handle situations that are life-threatening. The most common situations women face is assault, robbery and rape. To face these potentially hazardous situations and survive will depend on many factors. The things that a woman must consider are: techniques, courage, awareness, precautions, physical fitness and self-control.

Self-defense techniques consist of blocking, striking and kicking motions, to name just a few. Blocking motions are necessary to defend against punches and kicks. Striking and kicking techniques are weapons that are used to incapacitate an attacker. Kicking techniques are probably the most valuable assets a woman can acquire as equalizers against larger, stronger males. However, strikes with the hands and fingers to vital areas such as the eyes are important. This brings us to a very important self-defense concept: focus. Focus means to concentrate mental and physical energy, vie technique, to a sensitive area at the correct instant. With focus, self-defense techniques become very effective.

Self-defense techniques require a certain amount of courage. A woman can learn how to kick and strike with power. A woman can learn the vulnerable areas of the body. Nevertheless, when confronted with a life-threatening attack she must have the courage to apply her knowledge and experience. Many women, when taught how to incapacitate an attacker say, “I could never do that!” Well, they better do “that” or the attacker will.

Self-defense is enhanced by awareness. Awareness means being alert to your surroundings. A woman can get a head start on a potential self-defense situation if she can observe her surroundings carefully. For example, if a woman is walking downtown and she notices a man following…how big is he? Who else is in the area that could help? Are any stores open? If he attacks, is there anything on me or nearby that could be used as a weapon? The concept of awareness does not entail paranoia; it simply must be utilized to prevent an attacker from using the element of surprise.

While awareness is extremely important, its need can be minimized by taking certain precautions. For women, it is probably better not to be alone in a secluded place near a high crime area. When alone, project self-confidence and assuredness. These qualities help to deter the attacker who thrives on fear and insecurity. Meeting strangers in a public place is always risky. The best way to avoid problems is to trust your instincts. Unfortunately, precautions do not always prevent attacks. But law-abiding citizens should never submit to fear and allow criminals to take away their freedom to go places and be active. Therefore, self-defense training can help a woman cope in modern-day society.

Self-defense training should teach everything previously mentioned and two more extremely important things: physical fitness and self-control. Fighting for one’s life may require an extended battle and endurance will be the deciding factor. Flexibility and strength will improve the performance of self-defense movements and, last but not least, running may be the best self-defense technique.

Self-control is learning how to control one’s emotions. Panic and fear can render any woman helpless. Keeping a level head and a clear mind will allow prior training to surface when needed. Fear clouds perception and stimulates physiological activity. Fear must be overcome so that solutions can be determined and energy can be utilized. Fear can also be a tremendous source of power. Channeling the power generated by fear is the key to self-defense. Turn panic into power, turn a negative into a positive and any self-defense situation can be handled.

The best way to defend yourself is to take precautions that will minimize the probability of an attack. Self-defense techniques are movements to be used to repel an attack. Self-defense, in its entirety, encompasses a state of mental and physical preparedness. This essay will focus on precautions and being prepared.

Martial arts were developed as fighting systems during war. War forces you to be always on defense. The samurai lived under the notion that every second may be his last as the enemy’s sword was always ready to strike. Constant battle brings you to a state of ultra-alertness.

Self-defense precautions in your neighborhood include knowing your neighbors. What kinds of people live in your neighborhood? Are they law-abiding citizens? Also, you should know who belongs and who doesn’t. If you know your neighborhood and neighbors, then you will have support.

Self-defense precautions at work and in public places include knowing the area you are in. For example, the incidence of crime is higher in some areas than in others. If you have to work in or visit high crime areas, you must be alert. Also, there is strength in numbers. Sometimes it is wise to have a companion, especially in bad areas or at night.

Leaving or going to your car and house are vulnerable times. This is especially true if you are carrying packages. It is helpful to always have your keys ready in hand. The keys in hand will allow you to open the door of your car or house quickly. Also, key can be used as weapons.

Personal self-defense precautions involve three areas: mind, body and spirit. Develop your mental capacities and senses. Hearing, seeing and awareness will allow you to be alert to possible attacks. You should never be surprised. Keep yourself in top physical condition so that you can handle any adversity. Be confident and project an aura of assuredness. Project strength of character. Positive thinking leads to positive energy which leads to positive action. If you project an image of strength, this will decrease your likelihood of being attacked. Research has demonstrated this to be true. Weakness of mind, body and spirit increases your vulnerability. Predators always prey on the sick, the young, the old or the weak. Don’t give the vultures any signals that you are easy prey.

This essay will focus on the psychology of an attacker who commits the act of assault and battery, robbery or rape. Assault and battery involves beating with the hands, feet and/or weapons. Robbery involves commanding money and/or other valuables and threatening bodily harm upon refusal. Rape involves forced sexual activity and sometimes is accompanied by assault and battery. This essay is concerned with women’s self-defense against men, so the profiles will be of male attackers.

A man who assaults and batters a woman usually does so during a fit of uncontrolled anger. Frequently, the violent act follows a heated argument and the argument may be with a spouse. Wife abuse is a very serious problem in the United States. But beatings are not only outgrowths of uncivilized anger; they can stem from a man’s insecurities and needs to dominate.

Dominance/submission is a facet of male/female communication that is part of the natural attraction between men and women. However, sometimes the mind becomes twisted. A man may feel it necessary to beat a woman for the perceived infidelity or for love that is lost. Or he may batter a woman to force an agreement. A loving relationship may be wonderful, but a woman should never feel that beatings are part of the bond.

Rapists usually have a distorted understanding of dominance/submission. A rapist will demand sexual activity and force it if there isn’t swift compliance. The rapist wants the sex and wants it without any emotional involvement. No man has the right to violate a woman’s body but rape still occurs. Some rapists enjoy physically abusing their victims as part of the sec act and these types of individuals are extremely dangerous. Usually these individuals act out, in the present, against bad experiences with women in their past.

A robber or thief wants your money and/or valuables. Usually, the thief is nervous for fear of getting caught. The robber may have a gun or knife to deter you from refusing. Most likely, the thief doesn’t want to hurt you because this will make his crime more severe. Nevertheless, the robber is nervous and desperate and desperate people cannot be trusted.

How a woman should handle the previously described situations deserves serious consideration. Should a woman fight back and refuse to accept a man’s control? Should a woman value her money and/or dignity more than her life? Should a woman allow a man to violate her body to avoid harm? These are all serious questions that every woman must answer for herself.

Yes. Although Tae Kwon Do skills take longer to attain than it would take to acquire a gun, knife or club, they relieve one of the necessities of carrying anything at all. Also, your hands and feet are legal, you need no permit to carry them. Below are several examples of how you might use Tae Kwon Do for self-defense.

The student of the martial arts attains confidence in his ability to control and protect himself. A calm, confident person is less likely to be attacked to begin with.

If someone should grab hold of you, there are many break-hold techniques. Calmly assess the situation and decide which technique best first the circumstances, then use it – quickly and decisively. (Tae Kwon Do practice helps one learn to avoid panic.)

Blocking techniques enable one to stop or dodge a blow from a fist, foot club, knife or even a gun (provided the assailant is within striking range – even Tae Kwon Do cannot make you bulletproof).

Tae Kwon Do training also includes knowledge of the human anatomy. Various points of the body are extremely vulnerable, and a blow to one of them can be fatal. A blow to certain other points can break, paralyze or cause such severe pain as to disable an attacker. In the event that you have no choice but to strike another person, it is up to you to decide how much damage is necessary. Part of the philosophy of Tae Kwon Do is to do as little harm as possible. Therefore, although it may be necessary in some instances, do not strike to kill unless you have no viable alternative. If you harm another person, once you are certain they are no longer a threat, you should render any first aid or life-supporting help you are capable of. The ideal situation would be, if possible, to discourage the other person by demonstrating your technique on some inanimate object, or by striking him in such a way that you cause him pain but no real damage.

Master Sun Hwan Ching has said the following on many occasions, “If you only need to use your self-defense training to save your life one time, it is worth the time spent training.”

Learning self-defense techniques can give you confidence and power – the power to be in control during a life-threatening situation. Self-defense training should improve concentration, focus, self-control, awareness and perception. In addition, physical fitness should be a by-product of training. Self-defense training should train the mind, body and spirit, all of which are vital for surviving a life-threatening situation.

For most people, self-defense situations never occur. Nevertheless, modern-day society is full of all types of peril. Muggings, theft, rape, murder and accidents are examples of the ever present threats to our safety. For some people, like those in violent neighborhoods, these threats to safety are omnipresent and the environment dictates alertness.

However, for the majority of Americans life has some degree of safety and security. Most people feel safe in their own home. (If you don’t, move out!) Going out to dinner, a movie or shopping is usually not life threatening. The police give some people a feeling of security as do friends and family.

Because most people choose to live freely and feel safe, many are not prepared to handle threats or attacks. They have either never thought about the possibility, or they have dismissed the importance. Other people are extremely afraid of going out in public for fear of being attacked. It makes sense, no matter who you are, to realize that danger is as much a part of life as is safety. Take precautions to maximize safety and minimize danger. Self-defense is such a precaution. It can prove to be very useful.